Music Diary Day Three and Four - Sunshine!

Day three was a bit of a non day in terms of music listening. I'm not sure why, I just wasn't in a listening mood. I opted for mindless tv instead. The small amount of music I did listen to was by Ballboy. Ballboy are a Scottish band (you might notice a bit of a theme running through my music taste at times, I get a bit homesick!), they have a great knack for story telling and have a great sense of humour in their music. They're also a treat to see live as you get the stories behind the stories.

Day four was a really enjoyable day. I woke up and walked into the living room to see sunshine streaming through the windows. I was instantly in a good mood and wanted some music that reflected that. I opened Last.FM and put on my Recommended Radio. It gave me Aidan Moffat (of Arab Strap), which normally I'd be more than happy to listen to, today though it didn't fit in with what I fancied so I turned to YouTube and listened to Delakota - The Rock and The Do - Stay (Just a Little Bit More).

I used Spotify for a little while and listened to some Jenny and Johnny. I think I'd like to be Jenny Lewis a little bit. I've been a big fan of all of her endeavours from her part in The Postal Service, to Rilo Kiley to Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins right through to this latest incarnation. She seems to excel at any style she turns her hand to and her venture into pop is perfect summer listening for me.

After a little jaunt into town and back I turned again to Last.Fm, this time I went for my own radio station, compiled of stuff from my library. It seemed to sense that I wanted upbeat, sunny listening and opened with The Drums - I Wanna Go Surfing, followed by Girls - Lust For Life.

I spent the rest of the afternoon happily listening to a mixture of upbeat, cheerful and gorgeous songs, including Lemonheads - Become The Enemy, Beach Boys - God Only Knows (one of my all time favourites), Nina Simone - Feeling Good (another favourite) and Belle and Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap. I'll never forget my dad asking me what an arab strap was (if you don't know look it up, if you're the prim and proper type, don't).

These songs pretty much sum up my day-

I think my listening has probably been skewed completely by the lovely weather and probably doesn't reflect the full spectrum of my usual listening habits. I just don't think Rob Zombie suits sitting on my balcony with the sun shining down!

Music Diary Day Two - Hello (Pretend) Sunshine

This morning I was looking around for something to listen to, I opened Spotify and there it was, The Strokes - Angles. I like The Strokes but they are one of those bands I don't actively listen to very much. If I hear them I like them but otherwise I don't go out of my way to listen.

I'm glad I did this time. It put me in a great mood and made me feel really summery (I kept the blinds shut to block out the greyness of Yorkshire outside of my window). I really should listen to The Strokes more.

After The Strokes I was in a pretty upbeat mood so I decided to keep it up. I listened to Super Furry Animals - Songbook. I defy anyone not to enjoy listening to (Drawing) Rings Around The World.

If you've never seen Super Furry Animals live I urge you to do so! Gryff Rhys singing Slow Life through a Power Rangers helmet is reason enough in itself.

I rounded off the listening with Canned Heat - Going Up The Country, Pixies - Here Comes Your Man, The Drums - I Wanna Go Surfing and a couple of Joy Zipper songs. Joy Zipper remind me a bit of a cross between Beach Boys and Air, someone else could probably sum them up a bit better than that, but that's how I've always thought of them.

http://youtu.be/yxIyZZunTBs - Joy Zipper - Out of the Sun

I went out for a bit and had my ipod on, again on shuffle waiting for something to catch my interest. I listened pretty passively, my mind must have been elsewhere as I'm struggling to remember a few hours later what I actually listened to. The only song I can remember hearing is The Doors - Hello I Love You.

As far back as I can remember, I can remember The Doors. There's a pretty big age gap between my older brother and I but we spent a lot of time together when I was growing up. He did his very best to 'educate' me in music, he would make me mix tapes with things like The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Aerosmith, Canned Heat, Janis Joplin, Blondie...

He was a massive influence in my life. My Dm's, black skinny jeans and velvet floppy hat may have gained me some funny looks from my tracksuited friends but I was so glad to have that influence. I digress...

The Doors aren't to everyone's taste but they've always been a big part of my life and remain one of my favourite bands even now.

Music Diary Day One - Shuffle

I'm taking part in the music diary project (linky - http://sickmouthy.com/musicdiaryproject/) I'll be using this blog to write up my listening and my musings on that listening. I'm not a great writer but I am looking forward to taking part in the project.

I didn't manage to write up my listening yesterday, so here goes.

Yesterday I mainly listened to music on my ipod. I wasn't sure what I fancied listening to so I put the music on shuffle and ended up with a really nice laid back, upbeat mixture. Unfortunately the ipod had a bit of a meltdown and didn't scrobble the list, but here are some of the highlights.

I think these three songs sum up my listening for yesterday.

Hopefully the next entry to my diary will be a bit more informative as last.fm seems to be co-operating now.